LifeByDesign
Member
OFF GRID AC & HEAT. Is it possible?? The short answer is YES it is very possible. The complicated answer is that it takes work and a specific design to pull it off. What will follow is my attempt to document what work was done through a series of attached photos and description but if you are impatient you can cut to the chase and view all photos on our IG @ourlibertyvan account. This will be my attempt in getting the information consolidated in one space. The challenge was simple, design a system that allowed off grid heat and cooling operating on battery power completely and have it all fit into a nice package installed in our 2016 170 3500 4x4. Sounds simple but unfortunately nobody is doing it so I didn’t have anyone to copy. First challenge is selecting a unit that will fit our needs. We needed something that could deliver climate control from freezing temps to super uncomfortable humid heat. Regular RV systems fail in this regard because they can only handle heating operations from 40F and above and the efficiency of the AC system is poor. I also didn’t want to incur the expense of having two separate systems (ie: propane or diesel heat) plus a separate AC system. That left me with an option to go with a residential heat pump system. What I found was the super efficient systems operated on split phase 240VAC. (1st large challenge as most RV electrical systems will produce 120VAC). What was designed was an electrical system with battery storage of 10.6kw, produced 4000w of inverted power and could operate a Fujitsu 9kbtu Halycon heat pump assembly that can produce heat all the way down to -5F and also produce AC. This is the 33.3 SEER unit which is the most efficient heat pump on the market. If there was any system that was going to work electrically this was the deal. What follows is the work to get it functioning in a van.